The 1996 Universe provided a fascinating view of the Christmas
Books-the books Dickens wrote yearly for five years for sale at
Christmastime: A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Cricket on
the Hearth, The Battle of Life, and The Haunted Man and
the Ghost's Bargain.
The week's discussion took many directions. We explored the cultural impact of A Christmas Carol and the question of why the other four books never gained the popularity of the first one. The popular notion of Dickens as the "inventor" of the cozy English Christmas of Dingley Dell and Fezziwig's Warehouse also was examined closely and, while it was not rejected, it was put into a chronological, social, and economic context that explained the phenomenon of the resurgence of Christmas celebrations in England in the mid-19th century from several angles. We talked a great deal about Dickens's outlook on religion and his incorporation of religion (or the lack thereof) in these books written for a largely Christian holiday. Also present, of course, were critiques and questions about the many adaptations, authorized and unauthorized, of the Christmas Books over the years, both in print and in film.
Lecturers throughout the week included keynote speaker Bob Patten of Rice University, speaking on "The Re-invention of Christmas"; Bill Daleski of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, "Seasonal Offerings: Some Recurrent Features of Christmas Books"; Murray Baumgarten of UCSC, "Moving Spirits: Faust, Scrooge, and Film"; David Parker, Curator of the Dickens House Museum, "Christmas and Dickens"; Betsy Gitter, John Jay College, "Looking at Blind Girls: The Spectacle of Bertha Plummer in The Cricket on the Hearth"; Joe Childers, UC Riverside, "So This is Christmas"; Hilary Schor, USC, "The Law of Christmas, or Adultery Takes a Holiday"; Philip Collins of the University of Leicester, "How Dickens Read the Carol"; and Bob Tracy, UC Berkeley, "A Whimsical Kind of Masque: The Christmas Books and Victorian Spectacle."
The keynote speaker for the weekend "Victorian Spectacle" conference was Robyn Warhol of the University of Vermont, who spoke on Friday morning about "The Spectacularization of Slavery in Uncle Tom's Cabin's Posters and Playbills." On Wednesday night, John Glavin of Georgetown University also gave a fascinating "non-lecture" in the form of his introduction to the showing of Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life. Several other movies were shown throughout the week, including Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, Groundhog Day, and the Christmas Carol musical featuring Albert Finney.
On Friday evening, the Friends of the Dickens Project raised $1,130 in an auction that included a set of Everyone in Dickens and Everything in Dickens by George Newlin (auctioned by the author and inscribed on the spot to the winning bidder, Gretchen Emmons of the Palo Alto Fellowship, by George and the works' two dedicatees, John Jordan of the Dickens Project and David Parker of the Dickens House); a complete set of Dickens bought at the auction last year by Gil Selway of San Francisco, who died in February and left the set to the Friends to be re-auctioned this year; two beautifully cross-stitched and professionally framed Christmas Carol pictures created and donated by Friends board member Trude Hoffacker; and a first edition of The Battle of Life, donated by Tavistock Books proprietor and Friends board member Vic Zoschak.
The Friends also announced the donation of two books to the Ada B. Nisbet Library: The Pilgrim Edition of the Letters of Charles Dickens, Volume 4 (1844-1846), in memory of long-time Universe attendee and Friends supporter Eloise Hay of UC Santa Barbara; and George Cruikshank's Life, Times, and Art, by Robert L. Patten (the author was not only a speaker this year but the winning bidder on the cross-stitched pieces mentioned above, by the way), in memory of Gil Selway, charter member of the Friends board and the posthumous donor of the auctioned Dickens set.
Attendance was down at the Universe this year, but those who were there were treated to the usual week of camaraderie, discussion, food, wine, and fun. The Friends' afternoon teas, which had a Christmas theme, were well attended. The Friday night entertainment was provided by the David Simpich Marionettes. Simpich's fantastic one-man Christmas Carol was a real wonder, done with beautiful puppets, sets, sound effect, and lighting. (He also does Great Expectations.)
As always the week was exhausting but enlightening, and attendees
departed happy and satisfied after experiencing "Christmas
in August." The announcement of the 1997 book selections,
David Copperfield and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice,
was met with loud applause. We enjoyed the intimacy that the smaller
group offered this summer, but we look forward to sharing the
experience with as many more people as we can in the summer of
1997.
-- Beth Penney